Health

Doctors vs. lawyers: who does Prop 46 really benefit?

What do East Bay voters think of the state ballot initiative that pits doctors against lawyers? Proposition 46, called the “Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Cap and Drug Testing of Doctors Initiative,” is a four-fold ballot measure attacking medical errors from multiple directions. The measure would increase the state’s cap on medical malpractice awards for pain and suffering from $250,000 to over $1 million. It would suspend and take disciplinary action against doctors found under the influence of drugs or alcohol while…

Ebola reaction among African community in the East Bay

Nigerian Independence Day is Oct. 1, but for U.C. Berkeley Nigerians the party took place a few days later, at a hall near campus. It was a party crowded with people and colors from Nigeria and the rest of the African continent. You saw young Nigerian women in their bubas, the Nigerian blouses; their iros, wrap skirts; which in Yoruba usually worn with gele, the head wrap.  People sang the national anthem.  The smells of the broiled beefsteaks, platters of…